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Emma Raducanu was involved in quite a bit of drama during her short stay at the 2023 Madrid Open, which ended in her withdrawal from the tournament.
The Brit started the clay-court season with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She entered the Madrid Open as a wildcard and was scheduled to face Viktoriya Tomova in the first round, but eventually withdrew due to a hand injury.
Prior to her withdrawal Raducanu was involved in a very brief press conference, where her answers to 16 questions had a total of 58 words.
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Emma Raducanu's 58-word press conference at the Madrid Open
Emma Raducanu's press conference in Madrid lasted less than three minutes. The media persistently asked her questions about the possibility of facing her compatriot Jodie Burrage at the Madrid Open. However, her answers were very brief, and she responded in as few words as possible.
One reporter even asked Raducanu if she was deliberately making things difficult with her short answers, to which the Brit said she wasn't. At this point, a WTA official stopped the interview, saying:
"I think let's just leave it there."
Emma Raducanu's withdrawal from Madrid Open will cost her ranking points
Emma Raducanu was scheduled to face Viktoriya Tomova in the first round of the Madrid Open. However, she was forced to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournament due to a hand injury.
The Brit reached the Round of 16 in last year's edition of the competition, before losing to Angelina Kalinina. Her inability to defend her points from 2022 will see her drop out of the top 100 of the WTA rankings.
As things stand, Raducanu could be ranked 102nd when the next set of rankings comes out.
Chris Evert and Holger Rune defend Emma Raducanu for Madrid press conference
Chris Evert and Holger Rune spoke out in support of Emma Raducanu following her short press conference in Madrid. Evert stated that every player has had a presser like that.
"In her defense, every one of us has had a day, or a press conference like this… don’t make it such a big deal," the former World No. 1 tweeted.
Rune defended the Brit by claiming that giving short answers was the best way to avoid being misunderstood,
"The only way to be sure not to be misunderstood is to give nothing," the Dane said.
Raducanu now has five wins out of 10 matches so far this season. Her most notable performance was reaching the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. There, she beat Danka Kovinic, Magda Linette and Beatriz Haddad Maia before losing to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Raducanu will now look to get herself fit before the Italian Open in Rome.
